PopHealth Podcast

MedZed's Chief Growth Officer Enrique Balaguer joins host Gavin Ward to discuss MedZed's impact as one of the largest enhanced care management and community supports providers in California.

Riverside County DPSS leaders Allison Gonzalalez and Sandra Bowlan discuss some of the changes to Medi-Cal eligibility in 2026. They share what the nearly 1 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Riverside County (and similar to all CA counties) can do to maintain eligibility not just this year, but in the years ahead with the federal government's changes being phased in.

The former Medicaid leader for the CA Department of Health Care Services Jacey Cooper discusses the creation of the CalAIM initiative what she sees as the future of services like Enhanced Care Management, Community Supports, and more.

Blue Shield of California's Julianne Holloway joins host Gavin Ward to help explain the often conplex world of DSNP, or Duals Special Needs Plans, for individuals that qualify for both Medi-Cal (known as Medicaid Nationally) and Medicare

Pair Team VP Megan Carlson shares how her background in building care navigation systems (e.g. Unite Us) has equipped her to help Pair team enable existing organizations to launch enhanced care management services. Pair Team is now one of the largest ECM organizations on California.

Ryan Iwamoto, Executive Producer of PopHealth Podcast and Co-Founder of 24 Hour Home Care, joins the show to look back on 10 years of the podcast and some of his favorite memories as he reminisces with host Gavin Ward.

Charles returns to the show, touching on his past as a soccer coach before sharing the realities health plans are facing in California. Charles also shares with host Gavin Ward about the upcoming fall CAHP conference, including how leaders from health plans, providers, and DHCS will be attending to present as well as network.

Former DHCS leader Athena Chapman, President of Chapman Consulting, and Chapman's VP Elizabeth Evenson join host Gavin Ward to give an update on Medi-Cal Transformation/CalAIM, including touching on the 2024 annual report recently released by DHCS on Community Supports.

Health Net's Regional Medical Director Dr. Anshul Dixit and Vivant Health's Utilization Management Review Supervisor Kathleen Loredo share how they partner together with Dignity Health's greater Sacramento hospitals, including one recent effort that reduced unnecessary hospital stays by 400 while increasing provider show up rates by 20% after discarge.

Lisa Ramsey, a former Medi-Cal worker who created Medi-Cal Consulting Services, joins the show to share about updates on Medi-Cal eligibility, including reminders about some often misunderstood limits on income requirements.

Chrisina Mills, a leading advocate for the disability community, was recently appointed to serve as the Executive Director for the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Christina, who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (bones can easily break), has led a 25 year career in advocacy for the disabled community and looks forward to supporting older adults with initiatives that often align with both the aging and disability communities.

California Department of Health Care Services' Joanna Aalboe joins the show to share about the continued evolution of California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM)/Medi-Cal transformation as well as how managed care organizations (MCOs) will start to be measured in 2025 and beyond.

Cancer Resource Center of the Desert CEO Helen Palomino joins the show and shares how her organization has a large impact on the Mexican American community, majority of whom are on Medi-Cal, in navigating an often complex system in which residents choose to receive care on both sides of the border.

Dora returns to the show to recap Medi-Cal Transformation and the CalAIM initiative in 2024, including what's worked as well as challenges still to overcome in 2025 and beyond. Dora helps lead HC² Strategies, a statewide consultancy/facilitator that helps health plans, community based organizations, as well as other providers of social and medical care come together to create positive outcomes leveraging the new resources available via the CalAIM initiative.

Dr. Jauregui's parents were an inspiration to the work he now does in the Inland Empire, including serving with IEHP and even volunteering as a DJ at various community events. Dr. Jauregui shares about the impact his team has in serving over 1.5M IEHP members and how the Inland Coalition is developing a master plan to be rolled out to the 4.6+M individuals living in the Inland Empire

Disability Right California (DRC) and its 350 employees serve the community of over 10 millions individuals in california with developmental, behavioral, as well as physical health disabilities. Andy Imparato shares about the history of DRC, it's connection to federal efforts, and how he was inspired to get involved and ultimately have a career in serving as a leader in advocating for the rights of individuals with disabilities.

InnovAge leaders Maria and Shadie join host Gavin Ward to give background on InnovAge (including its growth in CA and other states), the "secret" of PACE, and why PACE's growth nationally may not be as rapid as other service types.

John joins the show and shares how he went from thinking he'd be a Summer Camp Director to leading the implementation of California's Data Exchange Framework. He discusses how his role as the Chief Data Officer for CAHHS as well as his Director role for the Center for Data Inisghts and Innovation is to help lead organizaitons, whether healthcare, county, or community based, to share pertinent information to best impact those they care for in California.

California Association of Health Plans (CAHP) President and CEO Charles Bacchi joins host Gavin Ward to discuss CAHP's 2024 Initiatives, upcoming CAHP Conference with over California 1,000 healthcare leaders, and more.

From a small clinic in downtown LA to impacting tens of thousands of lives in California and beyond, Gray shares how Titanium has expanded in scope and location to help the historically underserved access care in meaningful ways through traditional medical services as well as CalAIM funded enhanced care management, community supports, and more.